A Bad Day for Sunshine--A Novel

by Darynda Jones

  She continued to stare, definitely weighing her options. After a moment, one of them called dibs. He’d saved her daughter’s life. He could be angry and grumpy and curmudgeonly all he wanted. He could argue and belittle and look down upon her until the stars burned out. Bottom line, Levi Ravinder saved Auri’s life.

  Without thought, she put a hand on his bristly jaw, bent over him, and placed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth.

  He let her, and when she raised back up, he asked, “What was that for?”

  “For saving my daughter’s life.”

  “You should thank the rest of me, too. It was a group effort.”

  Her stomach flip-flopped. In its defense, it’d had a difficult day. “You need to rest.”

  “Chickenshit.”

  She gasped. “I am not. You know what? You’re delusional from being out in the elements for two days and almost freezing to death.”

  “I didn’t almost freeze to death.”

  “You’re dreaming all of this.”

  “If this were a dream, you’d be naked.”

  “This is all in your”—she waved her hands in the air—“deranged imagination.”

  “The only thing deranged is you if you think I’m going to forget this.”

  She stood and hurried for the door, but she hadn’t expected him to throw back the covers and follow her. She hadn’t expected him to brace a hand against the door and hold it closed when she tried to open it. And she certainly hadn’t expected him to press the length of his body into hers. To wrap his long fingers around her throat from behind. To scorch her skin with his nearness.

  He was everything she’d ever craved. Every fantasy. Every lascivious thought. All wrapped up into one, powerful predator.

  He bent until his mouth was at her ear. His warm breath fanned across her cheek when he spoke, but it was his words that caused the molten lava to pool in her abdomen.

  “The next time you come into this room and sit on that bed, you need to plan on staying a while.”

  Then he took hold of the doorknob and opened the door for her. A door she couldn’t get through fast enough.

  She hurried past the threshold and down the stairs, every inch he’d touched burning. Every molecule in her body begging her to go back.

  When she looked up from the bottom of the stairs, the door was already closed. She took a deep breath and patted her scalding face just as a hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

  It whirled her to face its owner, Clay Ravinder, and the smirk he wore cemented her very low opinion of the man.

  “Looks like you and the Apache had fun.”

  She set her jaw, then dropped her gaze to the fingers wrapped around her upper arm before raising it back to him.

  He let go and showed his palms in surrender. “Cold as ice, you are.”

  Without answering him—any form of acknowledgment would only encourage—she walked to the front door and opened it. The wind splashed an icy gust on her face, but it felt good. It was what she needed. A metaphorical slap to snap her out of her fantasy world.

  Because Sunshine Vicram and Levi Ravinder?

  Not in this lifetime.

  * * *

  Auri took a short nap, a ritual she’d loathed since she was a kid almost as much as she’d loathed ketchup on hot dogs. She was beginning to change her stance on both practices, however.

  She did feel better. A little groggy, maybe. A little grumpy. Probably because she had no way to contact Cruz. No way to thank him.

  Since he was grounded from his phone and from leaving his room possibly for the rest of his life, she considered walking to his house but thought better of it. It had warmed up significantly, but not enough to tromp through the snow at dusk.

  She decided to do some research instead and checked out Sybil’s online presence. Or she tried to. She couldn’t find a trace of the girl. No social media accounts. No tags. No mentions. The girl was a ghost.

  Perhaps she was trying to be invisible on purpose, to thwart whomever she knew was coming after her.

  Auri couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for her. To know that she was going to be kidnapped and murdered years before it actually happened. What had Sybil gone through? What damage could something like that knowledge do?

  And then for no one to believe her.

  Thirty-seven pages deep into her Google search, give or take, she finally came across a picture taken on a crisp fall day of a young girl with red hair, round glasses, and freckles. Her name, Sybil St. Aubin, had been spelled wrong in the caption, but it was her, all right.

  Sybil was only about ten in the picture. Her cheeks a bright peach from the cold. Her olive-green eyes glistening with life.

  She was posed with a boy around the same age. Dark hair. A grin full of mischief.

  They were hugging, their smiles a mile wide.

  Hopefully, the person who posted the picture had spelled the boy’s name right. Auri finally had a lead.

  She scrambled to look him up on social media. On a hunch, she put his hometown as Chicago and hit Enter. He was fourth on the list, which surprised Auri since his name, Mads Poulsen, seemed so unusual. Now she just needed some contact info.

  Her phone dinged with a message from her mom. She was checking up on her with a “Knock, knock.”

  Auri put down her coffee and texted back. “Who’s there?”

  “A little old lady.”

  She knew this one but went along with it, anyway. “A little old lady who?”

  “Oh, my god! All this time, I had no idea you could yodel!”

  After an involuntary snort, she texted, “That one’s older than I am.”

  “They’re all older than you are, sweetheart. How are you holding up?”

  “I’m okay. Promise. But can I say that I’m working for the Del Sol Sheriff’s Office so that I can do some digging into Sybil’s case? I have a lead.”

  The way Auri saw it, no more secrets meant no more secrets. She would tell her what she’d been up to at the academy and what she was doing now. Mostly because her mom had some wicked resources. And she would do anything to help find Sybil.

  “No,” she replied, and Auri slumped in her chair.

  “Please?”

  “Well, okay. But if you get busted and go to prison, I don’t want to read your memoir in ten years telling everyone it was my fault.”

  “Okay!”

  Auri put her phone on Do Not Disturb before her mom could change her mind. She’d never seriously give a fourteen-year-old permission to impersonate a law enforcement officer. Though her mom did send her on an undercover assignment once. She had to order fried chicken from an outdoor vendor. She could’ve died that day.

  After impersonating a sheriff’s deputy, a police officer, and a detective at various businesses and organizations in the Chicago area—Chicago PD, for example—she finally had a cell number for the guy. And possibly a warrant out for her arrest.

  She made a mental note never to visit the Windy City, then dialed the number. It was later in Chicago than in Del Sol, but still too early for school to be let out. She called Mads, anyway. And crossed her fingers.

  A boy picked up. “Hello?”

  Auri almost fell out of her chair. “Hi. Hello. Hey, there. Is this Mads?” God, she was good at this.

  “Depends,” he said, his voice wary.

  “Well, my name is Auri, and I’m looking for a friend of a friend. Do you know a Sybil St. Aubin?”

  “What’s this about?”

  “Sybil is missing. She’s been abducted, and we’re looking for some insight into her background.”

  After a long pause, he asked, “What’s your name again?”

  “Sorry. It’s Auri. Auri Vicram. My mom is Sheriff Sunshine Vicram of Del Sol County, New Mexico. It’s legit. You can look it up.”

  “And you’re working with the sheriff’s office?”

  “Yes.” The lie made her stomach cramp. “I’m helping with this case. It’s urgent that I f
ind someone, anyone, who was friends with Sybil in Chicago.”

  “We’re cousins, actually. But, yeah, I probably know her better than anyone.”

  Mads was in the awkward stage where his voice couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a tenor or a bass. He was probably a freshman or a sophomore.

  “Her cousin? This is fantastic. Do you know about her premonition?”

  “Sure. The whole family does. Not that anyone believes her. Besides me, of course.”

  “Why do you believe her?”

  “Because Sybil doesn’t lie. Ever. So, it really happened? No one told me.”

  “She was taken, yes. We’re trying to find any clues as to who could have taken her. Something she may have left out of her journal or something she only told her closest friends and relatives.”

  He unleashed a heavy sigh that didn’t sound promising in the least. “I wish I knew something. I’ve been trying to call her for two days. I should have known it happened. I should’ve been there.”

  “Did you ever see anyone following her? Anyone acting strange? Call and hang up?”

  “Not really, but there was something that happened a couple of weeks after they moved to New Mexico.”

  Auri straightened in her chair. “Really?”

  “Yeah. I told Aunt Mari I’d clear the limbs that had fallen in her yard after a storm here in Chicago. She gave me forty bucks.”

  “Sweet.”

  “Right? I went over there and started picking up branches so I could rake, and this guy walked up. He said he was with the gas company. He had a clipboard and a uniform with his name embroidered on it, so I believed him. But he started asking me all these questions about my aunt and uncle. When they moved. Where they went. Stuff like that.”

  “And if he was with the gas company,” Auri said, “he should have had that information already.”

  “Exactly. So, I started getting suspicious, especially when he walked up to their house and looked in the windows. Almost like he didn’t believe me.”

  “Did you get his name?” Auri asked, not really hopeful. If it was their guy, any name he would’ve given would probably have been fake.

  “I did, and that’s when I got even more suspicious.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. The name on his shirt read Penny. When I asked him about it, he said it was his last name. John Penny.”

  “Sure it was. Did you tell your aunt and uncle?”

  “I did. I called Aunt Mari, but she didn’t seem concerned. She said it was probably innocent and it would only fuel Sybil’s fears, so I didn’t say anything to Sybil. I didn’t want to stress her out, you know?”

  “I do. Can you describe the guy?”

  “He was pretty unremarkable. Average height. Fairly fit. Brown hair and glasses. But I don’t think I could pick him out of a lineup if you paid me to. And I’ll pretty much do anything for money. But this happened months ago.”

  “That’s okay, Mads. You have been so helpful. Did my number come up on your cell?”

  “Yep.”

  “Can you call me if you remember anything else? Anything at all?”

  “Of course. Can you keep me updated? Please? My family is … difficult.”

  “Absolutely.”

  When she took her phone off Do Not Disturb, her mom had texted her again.

  “You know I was kidding, right?”

  “About what?” she asked, giggling just a little. Then she texted, “He may have been keeping an eye on Sybil in Chicago. If so, he’s average height, semi-fit, brown hair, and glasses.”

  Her mom texted back. “How did you—? Never mind. She didn’t mention that in the letter or her journal.”

  “This is from a cousin in Chicago. He always believed her.”

  “At least someone did. How many laws did you break getting this information?”

  “How many are there?”

  When her mom texted back, “Aurora Dawn Vicram,” Auri fought a giggle before hopping up and running into the kitchen.

  “Hey, Gran, I need to make a quick run to the apartment.”

  “Okay, sweetheart. I made tortillas and green chile stew.”

  Auri’s mouth watered instantly. “It smells divine. I’ll be right back. Don’t start without me!”

  She threw on her jacket and hurried across the backyard to the new apartment. The one she loved and had planned on spending the rest of her life in. She’d never felt home, really home, until they’d moved back to Del Sol. Like it had been calling to her. Waiting for her.

  Then Lynelle Amaia happened.

  She punched in the combination to unlock the door right as a hand closed over her mouth.

  20

  Caller reported man at Del Sol Lake

  forcibly baptizing the children swimming there.

  —DEL SOL POLICE BLOTTER

  Sun drove back to the station still trembling. Not from Clay’s attempts at intimidation. That pervert couldn’t make her tremble if he rented a tree shaker.

  Nope. Levi Ravinder had been making her tremble in her boots since they were kids, but they’d had a rough history and were having an even rougher present.

  While he’d never been what one would call flirtatious, they did have a moment in high school. Sun, a freshman at the time, had snuck out for the first time in her life. She and Quincy wanted to go to their first high school party. They’d talked about it all through middle school, but by the end of the night, all Quincy had was a raging headache and all Sun had was a memory of Levi Ravinder she would cherish forever.

  They’d walked into the clearing, thrilled by all the upperclassmen and the bonfire and the red Solo cups full of any number of alcoholic beverages.

  Someone handed her a cup of beer. Since she hated the stuff, she only pretended to drink. Quincy, however, did not pretend. He would later come to regret that decision.

  As she wandered around, taking in all the playful flirtations and heated flirtations and downright X-rated flirtations, she saw him. Levi Ravinder. He’d clearly had too much to drink and had passed out under a tree away from the melee.

  She couldn’t help herself. She strolled closer. At first, she just wanted to see if he was really sleeping. But as she got nearer, she realized he was actually watching her through hooded lids, his lashes making it almost impossible to see his shimmering irises.

  She started to back away. “Sorry. I thought maybe you were passed out.”

  “Not yet,” he said, watching her like a mountain lion watches its prey.

  “Right. Well, if you’re okay, I’ll just—”

  “Want some?” He lifted a small jug off the ground.

  “Um, I have this,” she said, holding out her cup.

  “You mean the beer you haven’t taken a sip of?”

  “How did you—? Maybe. I just don’t like the taste.”

  “You’ll like this.” He lifted the jug again, as though inviting her to get closer. To taste what he had to offer. As he lay sprawled on the ground, his shirt had ridden up. She could see his rock-hard abdomen and even the tops of his red boxers.

  She stepped closer, and he held the jug up to her, his hold shaky at best. Since she couldn’t quite reach it, she knelt beside him and reached over him.

  “What is it?”

  “Sunshine,” he whispered, a playful grin lighting up his agonizingly handsome face.

  But just when her fingers brushed across the jug, he moved it out of her reach.

  She laughed softly and leaned farther. “Don’t you mean moonshine?”

  “No.”

  He moved the jug out a few more inches, and she barely kept her balance, almost falling on top of him. But he wasn’t going to let her off that easily. He wrapped an arm around her and caught her to him. She landed on top of him, and humiliation burned her cheeks until she realized he’d done it on purpose.

  “You’re drunk,” she said, trying not to giggle.

  “Not yet, but I’m getting there.”

  He pulled her
down to him, and even though she’d never kissed a boy in her life, she knew instinctively to put her mouth on his. To drink. To savor. He tasted like alcohol and cinnamon and fire, because that was what rushed through her veins and burst inside her.

  She gasped from behind the kiss, and he grinned. Pulled her closer. Angled his head and slid his tongue deeper inside her mouth. She was so lost in the heady sensations washing over her, she hadn’t noticed his hand sliding down her back. Cupping her buttocks. Slipping between her legs.

  She stilled and he stilled and it almost became awkward, until he asked, “Is this okay?”

  Is this okay? Was he serious? All her schoolgirl fantasies were coming true in one fell swoop. Hell yes, this was okay. But she didn’t want to seem too eager. Too zealous. Too inexperienced.

  She cleared her throat softly and whispered, “Yes. It’s okay.”

  He kissed her again, then parted her knees with his to give himself more access, and she sucked in a sharp breath when he began to massage her through her jeans. Waves of pleasure crashed into her and around her and through her, the feeling so intense she feared she would climax right then and there.

  “Wait,” she whispered against his mouth.

  He stopped and squeezed her ass before resting his hand on it to give her time.

  While she lay panting in a sea of desire like she’d never known, he seemed to barely be fazed. “Will you remember this in the morning?”

  “Depends on how far we take it.” He said it with a wicked smirk, but she also saw a warmth in his eyes. A teasing sincerity. And something else. Hope?

  “You Sunshine?” a boy asked. He stood over them wearing a red-and-gold letterman’s jacket.

  Sun scrambled off Levi and smoothed her clothes. “Yes. Why?”

  “Does he belong to you?” He pointed to Quincy.

  “Oh no.” She ran to him. He was leaning against a tree, puking his guts up.

  By the time she got him in the car, he’d passed out, and she almost groaned aloud. Her one chance, and Quincy had to give beer a try for the first time in his life, though certainly not the last.

  She looked past the bonfire at Levi. He sat against a tree and took a huge swig of the moonshine. Then he looked back at her and raised the jug as though in salute.